He took hold of her hand. “I am here. I am not going anywhere.”
Kaelan kept talking to her, encouraging her to wake up and open her eyes. It took longer than he liked but she finally opened her eyes and her fingers began to grip his hand.
“You frightened the bloody hell out of me,” he said once her eyes fully opened. Then he lowered his head and rested his cheek next to hers, his breath a warm whisper in her ear. “You will not die before me. I cannot survive without you.”
Her voice was but a whisper. “Then it is good the Wise live long lives.”
He raised his head smiling. “So do the Thornek, which means we will have endless years together.”
“I look forward to every one of them,” Bria said, a bit breathless.
“As do I,” Kaelan said and kissed her brow.
She struggled to say, “I must tell you?—”
“When you have your breath about you.”
Bria lay there keeping hold of her husband’s hand, regaining her strength, her breath, eager to tell her husband all that had happened.
And she did when she finally regained her strength, explaining it all to him in detail as he sat quietly, listening.
When Bria finished, she realized it sounded more like a tale then truth, and she asked, “Do you believe me?”
“Every word,” he said without hesitation.
Bria sighed, heavily relieved.
“So, this ethereal figure wants you to protect the pendant until the one comes to claim it. Did she happen to mention who the one is?”
“If only it were that easy,” Bria said.
“The question is, do we trust this being? We do not know who she is or where she comes from or if she is good or evil.”
A single tear slipped from Bria’s eye and more pooled behind it ready to fall.
Kaelan felt her distress and it upset him. “What’s wrong? You hurt. I can feel it.”
Tears followed the single tear cascading down her cheeks as she tightened her hand around his.
“I have felt much heartache, help eased it, known my own with the loss of my parents, but never have I felt the overwhelming heartbreak this woman suffered. It was horrible and I do not know how she lives with it day after day.”
“Does she live? She is in ethereal form, a spirit, perhaps her pain comes from that.”
Bria stared at her husband, thinking of how it might feel to lose him, never to feel his arms around her, or to share a kiss, or see him smile, and a horrible ache stung her chest and twisted in her stomach.
She struggled in her rush to sit up, and Kaelan slipped his arm under her back to help her. Her arms went around his neck as soon as she was up, holding on to him as if she would never let him go.
“I do not want to waste a single moment we have together.” She kissed him with strength and purpose, flaring her desire and welcoming it. She needed him now more than ever.
Kaelan understood that she needed to feel love after feeling such heartbreak. He felt the same after fearing he might have lost her. They needed to join as one, solidifying their commitment to each other.
“Aye, wife, no more wasted time,” he agreed.
His lips met hers in a powerful kiss, but it was not so much the kiss, but what it meant to them. A commitment they would never break, a promise to love no matter what the circumstances, and hearts forever united.
He forced himself to pull his lips away from hers, not ready to end the kiss, simply wanting more.
“Let’s get you naked,” he said.
